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South East European Network for Professionalization of MediaMon, 19 Feb 2018 20:11:12 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.7.9Serbia: the safety of journalists outside the state’s sphere of competencehttp://seenpm.org/serbia-safety-journalists-outside-states-sphere-competence/
http://seenpm.org/serbia-safety-journalists-outside-states-sphere-competence/#respondMon, 19 Feb 2018 20:11:12 +0000http://seenpm.org/?p=5854Since the beginning of this year, fifteen journalists have suffered threats and attacks. Representatives of the authorities say that they condemn such attacks, but reject...

]]>Since the beginning of this year, fifteen journalists have suffered threats and attacks. Representatives of the authorities say that they condemn such attacks, but reject any responsibility for the pressures to which journalists in Serbia are exposed on a daily basis.

by Antonela Riha, Belgrade

“Everyone is responsible for themselves”, said State Secretary of Serbian Ministry of Culture and Information Aleksandar Gajović, commenting on the attack against N1 TV journalist Nikola Radišić, who was assaulted and insulted in the street. The attack followed a series of harsh criticisms directed against the editorial policy of this independent television broadcaster, which Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić refers to as “American”, while Interior Minister Nebojša Stefanović calls it CIA’s TV station.

In a recent interview with Radio Slobodna Evropa, Gajović said that the issue of attacks against journalists does not fall within the competence of the Ministry of Culture and Information, adding that “real journalists and real newsrooms need to listen to the other side as well”, and that he expects an explanation from the aggressors, whose identity is still unknown. “I would like to know their side of the story as well, did they really do it or not. Of course we are going to condemn every attack, but first I want to see what is behind these attacks, who is hiding behind them, if anyone is hiding”.

Later in the same interview, when asked about the death threats that appeared on social media against Nedim Sejdinović, president of the Independent Association of Journalists of Vojvodina (NDNV), Gajović responded with a counter-question: “Are you really sure it wasn’t him that organised it all, in order to present himself as a victim?”, concluding, “I think that man doesn’t have good intentions”.

These statements provoked strong reactions from the main Serbian journalists’ organisations, which requested Gajović’s dismissal, but prime minister Ana Brnabić avoids taking position on the issue, simply ensuring that “attacks of any kind are unacceptable and will not be tolerated”.

Intolerance of criticism

According to data from the Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia (NUNS), since the beginning of the year there have been 15 cases of attacks, serious threats, and pressure against journalists.

The motivation behind these intimidatory acts is always the same: journalists’ critical stance towards the political establishment. Following the murder of Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanović – that happened on January 16th in the northern part of Mitrovica and was preceded by a months-long demonisation by Serbian pro-government media, which labelled him as traitor – Beta News Agency editor-in-chief Dragan Janjić tweeted: “The elimination of political opponents has begun”. In a press conference later that day, president Vučić made explicit reference to Janjić and then said: “None of us are murderers, as some would wish”.

Although Janjić didn’t accuse Serbian authorities of involvement in Ivanović’s death nor did he call anyone a murderer, after the above-mentioned press conference he became target of threats. One of the posts appeared on Facebook containing accusations against Janjić also contained his home address, while among hundreds of hostile comments there were some explicit exhortations to lynching, such as: “Take him to Kalemegdan and shoot him in the forehead” or “Hang him in the square”.

On top of that, in the beginning of February prime minister Ana Brnabić targeted NUNS president Slaviša Lekić saying that “calling an elected head of state a murderer, like NUNS president did, is contrary to European values”, alluding to Lekić’s alleged position regarding Ivanović’s assassination. Reacting to this statement, Lekić announced that he will file a lawsuit against the prime minister, who “will have to appear before a judge because of such an offense and lie”.

Journalists as “enemies” of the state

Tamara Skrozza, a journalist from weekly newspaper Vreme, has been vilified for days by pro-government TV channel Pink just because she participated, as a member of the board of directors of non-governmental organisation CRTA, in a press conference presenting the final report on the media monitoring conducted during the period preceding the official start of the Belgrade local elections campaign.

Although more than 300 journalists and citizens submitted a complaint to the Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (REM), denouncing the defamation campaign against Skrozza, this institution has not yet determined whether TV Pink violated professional standards, nor has it undertaken any measure envisaged by legislation in cases like this.

The campaign against Skrozza started after president Vučić, appearing on a television programme, associated NGO CRTA, involved in electoral observation activities, with a foreign embassy (without specifying which one), concluding: “The whole plan is to make SNS [Vučić’s party] lose”.

It has become customary for pro-government media to follow up on such statements, often made by president Vučić and some other state functionaries, with defamation campaigns against independent media and journalists, labelling them as traitors and foreign mercenaries working against their own country.

That is why few were surprised when, on the night of February 5th, the front door of NUNS’s offices was covered, for the second time in just a few days, with leaflets saying: “Miserable association of enemies of Serbia”. Given the overall atmosphere of hostility towards independent journalists, few believe that the Attorney’s Office will bring to justice not only those responsible for this last incident, but also many others who, anonymously or publicly, threaten journalists on social media or in the street, as happened in the case of TV N1 journalist.

The messages coming from the highest representatives of the state encourage intimidating behaviour towards journalists. Although Brussels has warned Serbia that the respect of media freedom is a prerequisite for further progress towards the EU, and although many international organisations, like Reporters Without Borders, continuously denounce pressures put on independent journalists and media in Serbia, Belgrade’s political establishment denies any responsability for the present situation.

A recently published study conducted by the Slavko Ćuruvija Foundation, titled “Control and freedom of the media: journalists’ testimonies”, shows that 74% of journalists in Serbia think that there are serious obstacles to the exercise of press freedom, or that there aren’t even the conditions for it, while nearly two thirds of the journalists interviewed believe that “the media are mainly controlled by the political establishment”.

According to data from NUNS, in 2017 there were 92 cases of attacks, threats, and pressure against journalists and the media. The latter cannot even count on adequate legal protection, because the judiciary is getting less and less immune to the pressures exercised by the ruling party, guided by president Vučić. Judging by recurrence, number,

According to data from NUNS, in 2017 there were 92 cases of attacks, threats, and pressure against journalists and the media. The latter cannot even count on adequate legal protection, because the judiciary is getting less and less immune to the pressures exercised by the ruling party, guided by president Vučić. Judging by recurrence, number, and nature of the attacks against journalists reported in the first month and a half of 2018, as well as by rhetoric and actions of representatives of the political power, it seems that the state is not at all willing to make efforts to ensure the safety of journalists.

This publication has been produced within the project European Centre for Press and Media Freedom, co-funded by the European Commission. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso and its partners and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union. The project’s page

]]>Serbian media outlets’ economic weakness means journalists are vulnerable to pressure on their reporting, suggests new research conducted as part of a project involving BIRN, the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia and the Slavko Curuvija Foundation.

by Filip Rudić, BIRN, Belgrade

Serbian media’s economic unsustainability and dependence on the authorities for advertising, combined with a poor professional culture and a lack of protection and financial security for journalists, allows politicians to exert control over media organisations, according to the research published on 13 February 2018.

According to the findings of the research, conducted by the Slavko Curuvija Foundation as part of a project with BIRN and the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia, pressure usually comes from the authorities and political parties, then from editors, and then advertisers.

The executive branch exerts the strongest effects over journalists’ work, the research suggested.

“The minister calls the managing editor or the ‘Dnevnik’ [daily news show] editor or deputy, or someone from the PR service calls, you never know who, but they do it non-stop,” said one journalist working for Serbia’s public broadcaster, RTS.

Another journalist interviewed for the research said that “the [president’s] office dictates who should not be invited as a guest”.

The research was conducted through an online survey of 177 journalists and 10 in-depth interviews with employees of various media that showed indications that they had been exposure to strong pressures from outside or within.

Of all the journalists polled, 69 per cent said they encountered at least one form of pressure from the authorities. Over half of them – 56 per cent – encountered pressure from political party representatives.

Editorial pressure was experienced by 47 per cent; 41 per cent faced pressure from management, a third from the advertisers and 30 per cent from the media owners.

Institutions and parties obstructed journalists by refusing to provide them with information, while officials turned down requests for statements and interviews, and expressed displeasure with media coverage, according to the survey.

Journalists also reported “systemic discrimination” against their media organisations, which included the denial of public funds and not receiving invitations to public events.

Over half of the journalists surveyed said that their outlet or its reporters had been publicly denounced by officials.

According to the survey, officials also insisted that the media publish, change, or withhold certain information about them or their institutions or parties, while almost half of the polled journalists faced open insults from public officials.

Forms of control exercised by editorial staff included turning down offers of coverage of certain topics and requesting coverage of topics with no professional justification.

Around a third of the surveyed journalists also reported cases of editors turning down already finished reports, plus distortion of the tone of reports and headlines to make them either positive or negative.

When it came to pressures from management, most commonly reported were requests for preferential treatment of advertisers in daily reporting.

Around a third of the journalists surveyed reported that management interfered with the selection of topics to be covered and which assignments were given to which reporters.

Management also demanded preferential treatment for certain political subjects, called for some stories not to be published, and interfered with the selection of sources, the surveyed journalists alleged.

Other forms of pressure included the dismissal of employees and demands to support certain electoral campaigns, according to the survey.

Journalists further reported cases of advertisers threatening to pull their ads, reneging on their financial obligations, and requesting covert advertising – promotional content made to look like a journalistic report.

]]>http://seenpm.org/weak-serbian-media-cant-resist-political-pressure-research/feed/0Croatian ‘Novosti’ Shortlisted for Freedom of Expression Awardhttp://seenpm.org/croatian-novosti-shortlisted-freedom-expression-award/
http://seenpm.org/croatian-novosti-shortlisted-freedom-expression-award/#respondMon, 19 Feb 2018 19:22:50 +0000http://seenpm.org/?p=5846The Croatian weekly, representing the country’s Serbian minority, is the only European newspaper among four candidates that Index on Censorship has shortlisted for its 2018...

]]>The Croatian weekly, representing the country’s Serbian minority, is the only European newspaper among four candidates that Index on Censorship has shortlisted for its 2018 Freedom of Expression Award.

by Sven Milekic, BIRN, Split

The London-based NGO Index on Censorship has shortlisted the Croatian independent weekly Novosti as one of only four finalists for its prestigious 2018 Freedom of Expression Award.

Index on Censorship, which advocates for freedom of expression, has chosen the newspaper of Croatia’s Serbian ethnic minority as the only media outlet coming from Europe for the award in the area of journalism.

Mexican webzine Avispa Midia, American non-profit media MuckRock and an investigative journalist Wendy Funes are nominated for the award, along with Novosti.

Announcing the shortlisted candidates, Index on Censorship stated that the weekly reports on a range of topics, not solely on issues within Croatia’s Serbian community, and has faced considerable pressure.

In Croatia, the weekly is widely seen as anti-establishment, drawing on some of the journalists who used to work for the now defunct satirical weekly Feral Tribune.

“In the past year, the outlet’s journalists have faced attacks and death threats mainly from the ultra-conservative far-right. For its reporting, the staff of Novosti have been met with protests under the windows of the magazine’s offices, shouting fascist slogans and anti-Serbian insults and told they would end up killed like [French satirical magazine] Charlie Hebdo journalists,” Index on Censorship wrote in the explanation of its candidacy.

“Despite the pressure, the weekly persists in writing the truth and defending freedom of expression,” it concluded.

The award dates back to 1972, and the winners will be announced on a ceremony in London in April.

]]>http://seenpm.org/croatian-novosti-shortlisted-freedom-expression-award/feed/0Media Capture, Made in Bulgariahttp://seenpm.org/media-capture-made-bulgaria/
http://seenpm.org/media-capture-made-bulgaria/#respondSun, 18 Feb 2018 22:35:28 +0000http://seenpm.org/?p=5843One businessman has managed to bring both the state structures and big business in Bulgaria under his tight control. Media was a key piece of...

]]>One businessman has managed to bring both the state structures and big business in Bulgaria under his tight control. Media was a key piece of that puzzle.

By Marius Dragomir

Last month, when Bulgarian prosecutors ordered tax authorities to investigate all of the country’s citizens who paid in excess of €260,000 for a property or car, the absence of one man from that list was particularly conspicuous. His name is Delyan Peevski.

In spite of a declared fortune of over €41m (in both shares and bank deposits), Mr Peevski doesn’t splurge on pricey cars or houses. He still owns a 19-year Opel worth some €500, authorities say.

The government claims that the attack on expensive car and property owners in a country where nearly 100 Ferraris are registered is part of its anti-smuggling efforts. For many Bulgarians, though, disillusioned by the rampant corruption in their country, the prosecution campaign was yet another PR charade; and even that was tainted by corruption. Sotir Tsatsarov, Bulgaria’s chief-prosecutor, is a friend of Mr Peevski who allegedly secured his top prosecutor position.

Mr Peevski, 38, has garnered so much power into his hands that he practically controls most of Bulgaria’s politics and business. Owning media has also greatly helped.

Oligarchic Chemistry

Mr Peevski understood early in his career how media can be repurposed to influence political life and business actors. Since 2007, he has been building a media empire able to influence political and economic affairs, and to rapidly kill what is left of independent journalism.

Mr Peevski started his political career at only 21 as a clerk in the local transports ministry. Within a short time, he was appointed to the board of directors at the state-owned Varna Port. Since 2009 he has been an MP for the ethnic Turks-dominated Movement for Rights and Freedoms (known as DPS in Bulgarian). In 2013, he had a short stint as head of the State Agency for National Security (DANS), Bulgaria’s intelligence agency.

Mr Peevski’s career has been tainted by a series of political and corruption scandals. For many years, he had a partnership with the banker Tsvetan Vasilev, the majority owner of Corporate Commercial Bank (CCB), the fourth largest bank in Bulgaria in its day. Many of the companies bought by Mr Peevski were acquired with CCB loans. Shortly after Mr Peevski fell out with Mr Vasilev, CCB went bust. Mr Peevski today owns a battery of companies including the largest equipment trader Technomarket and the cigarette producer Bulgartabac, as well as constructors and real estate companies.

In parallel with his business and political growth, Mr Peevski also consolidated his media enterprise. Back in 2007, New Bulgarian Media Group (NBMG), then a newly incorporated company owned by Irena Kristeva, Mr Peevski’s mother, bought Monitor, Telegraph and Politika, three of Bulgaria’s major newspapers. Seven years later, Ms Kristeva transferred half of the ownership in NBMG to her son.

Today, the media assets controlled by Mr Peevski include national and regional newspapers, television channels, online news portals, distribution agencies, a publishing house, an audience measurement agency and digital TV broadcast infrastructure, according to a 2018 report from the Union of Publishers in Bulgaria, a local publishers association. His group controls more than 80% of the newspaper distribution market and has invested up to BGN 800m (US$ 500.5m at today’s exchange rate) in media assets, according to the publishers union.

A Private State

Mr Peevski’s media investments have badly affected independent journalism and massively distorted the country’s media market. In 2012, Bulgarian Media Union, an alternative alliance of publishers grouping Mr Peevski’s media, was created, leading to divisions in the profession and industry. The newly launched union, headed by Mr Peevski himself, quickly launched attacks on the rival Union of Publishers in Bulgaria.

Mr Peevski’s media have also become instrumental in deciding political race winners. After the bankruptcy of CCB and the fall of the government of Plamen Oresharski, Mr Peevski’s media helped Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB), a center-right political party, win the 2017 elections. The same year, political groups supportive of Mr Peevski swept all the seats in Bulgarian parliament. GERB’s head, Boyko Borisov, is now Bulgaria’s prime minister.

Once political opposition had been blown to smithereens, Mr Peevski moved on to the next project: blotting out the last pieces of independent journalism in the country. State institutions, either the judiciary or tax authorities, are used as tools of pressure and repression. Aligned media further help him with smearing campaigns.

One of the targets of Mr Peevski’s attack is Economedia, publisher of the weekly Capital and the Dnevnik news portal. Known for its investigative reports into CCB, including the use of CCB loans for acquisition of news media, the group has often stirred the ire of authorities. Last November, the state-controlled Commission for Forfeiture of Unlawfully Acquired Property, under pressure from the prosecutor’s office, launched investigations into Economedia’s publisher, Ivo Prokopiev and his family. This followed years of inspections by tax authorities, investigations by the state prosecution and police, and fines imposed by financial regulators.

In a separate case, the investigative journalism website Bivol, known for its intrepid reporting into Bulgarian corruption and mafia networks, in past years published a series of articles about smuggling of cigarette made by Bulgartabac, a company associated with Mr Peevski, into the Middle East. The coverage triggered a constant spate of attacks and harassment by state institutions and Peevski-friendly media. In March 2017, Bivol’s publisher Asen Yordanov saw his entire property seized by the National Revenue Agency, another state institution used to intimidate Mr Peevski’s critics.

Even a comic publication, Pras Press, came under fire. Its cartoons often mock prime minister Borisov, attorney general Tsatsarov and MP Peevski. All major press distributors, owned by Mr Peevski, refused to sell Pras Press’ first issue in March 2017.

All these pressures against independent journalists have sent Bulgaria to the bottom of freedom of expression rankings lately. In 2017, Bulgaria ranked 109th out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index of the Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a Paris-based watchdog. In Europe, only Macedonia, Russia and Turkey fared worse.

No Market, No Freedom

Mr Peevski has once been described by the German newspaper Der Spiegel as a most controversial figure who built his political career on corruption and ties with criminal networks. He rebuffs criticism, which in his opinion is politically motivated. In 2014, when he was elected to the European Parliament, Mr Peevski turned down the assignment, explaining that he only ran in the EU elections to restore his reputation.

Two years ago, he said that he would pull out from all business projects in Bulgaria because of a “continuous media campaign” against him. No signs of that yet.

Even if he goes tomorrow, the Peevski model has already wreaked havoc on Bulgarian media industry. Both the business model and the quality of the media product have suffered irremediably because of him, his political allies and his media. The Peevski model might not be here to stay, but its legacy is going to manacle the Bulgarian media market for many years to come.

]]>The European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA) in partnership with USI Università della Svizzera italiana call for proposals to be presented at the 7th European Communication Conference, to be held in Lugano, Switzerland, from 31 October to 3 November 2018.

The Conference has chosen the key theme of “Centres and Peripheries: Communication, Research, Translation”. Organisers call for proposals that address the main conference theme and which relate to each ECREA Section, Network or Temporary Working Group.

The conference endorses nine independent pre-conferences which will take place prior to the main conference. For all information and registration to the pre-conferences please visit the pre-conferences websites:

]]>http://seenpm.org/2018-ecrea-conference-centres-peripheries-9-pre-conferences-abstracts-28-feb/feed/0Bigger is not always better: What we can learn about data journalism from small newsroomshttp://seenpm.org/bigger-not-always-better-can-learn-data-journalism-small-newsrooms/
http://seenpm.org/bigger-not-always-better-can-learn-data-journalism-small-newsrooms/#respondSun, 18 Feb 2018 21:06:43 +0000http://seenpm.org/?p=5834Bettina Figl’s (Reuters Institute Fellow) paper on data journalism in small newsrooms is based on literature, case studies and interviews with heads of newsroom data...

Her findings make it clear that data journalism is all about team work, and size is no barrier to innovation.

Indeed smaller newsrooms can be at an advantage when it comes to integrating data teams.

Journalists in smaller publications often communicate better with each other, are more willing to take risks, and can change the culture of the newsroom more easily.

Limited resources and lack of expertise in data journalism can be overcome by collaborations and networks like The Bureau of Investigative Journalism’s Bureau Local, which connects local newsrooms all over the UK.

As with all Fellows’ research papers, any opinions expressed are those of the author and not of the Institute.

]]>http://seenpm.org/bigger-not-always-better-can-learn-data-journalism-small-newsrooms/feed/0CJA’s message to President Vučić: You have no right to speak untruth and to insult journalistshttp://seenpm.org/cjas-message-president-vucic-no-right-speak-untruth-insult-journalists/
http://seenpm.org/cjas-message-president-vucic-no-right-speak-untruth-insult-journalists/#respondFri, 16 Feb 2018 21:15:34 +0000http://seenpm.org/?p=5837ZAGREB, 16.02.108. – According to media reports the President of the Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić during his official visit to Croatia accused Elvir Mešanović,...

]]>ZAGREB, 16.02.108. – According to media reports the President of the Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić during his official visit to Croatia accused Elvir Mešanović, journalist of N1 TV, for making up that he mentioned „Great Serbia“ at his speech in occupied Glina in 1995. But the truth is the journalist just reminded Vučić at his speech that actually took place – the speech was recorded and it is possible to hear what Vučić really said.

During his answering questions in Vrginmost President Vučić did not say the truth when he accused N1 TV journalist of making up. He also labeled journalists’ questions as offensive and haranguing. President Vučić speaks about journalists in his country with the same kind of scorning and arrogance when answering their questions and he brought the same manners to Croatia.

Croatian Journalists’ Association (CJA) condemns that method of Aleksandar Vučić and reminds him that being a president of the country it is his duty to answer journalists’ questions and that he has no right to consider them being insults, haranguing and making up. And what’s more – he has no right to speak untruth. By doing so a politician puts pressure on media and journalists and that is inadmissible in all civilized societies.

CJA also condemns off the record request from the Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia Ms Grabar-Kitarović to Croatian journalists not to put questions to the President Vučić about his Glina speech. RTL TV officially confirmed to CJA it actually happened to its journalist.

Any request limiting their professional freedom journalists have not only right but even duty to ignore. Question about President Vučić’s war speech in Glina is related to facing his political past and restrictions and underestimation of journalists can not help the truth nor can it help relations between two countries to be improved.

A similar sentence was handed to three other suspects, Zaman newspaper´s marketing manager Yakup Simsek, police academy instructor Sukru Tugrul Ozsengul and Zaman´s layout designer Fevzi Yazici. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) are deeply appalled by these verdicts which confirm Turkish authorities´ disregard for rule of law.

“These scandalous condemnations represent an escalation in the repression of press freedom in Turkey,” said IFJ President Philippe Leruth. “Criminalisation of journalistic work is a common way for dictatorial powers to repress freedom of expression. But Turkey belongs to the democratic States which are part of the Council of Europe, and all democratic countries should make very clear to the Turkish authorities that they went a step too far in this case. Press freedom is the thermometer of democracy and breaking it won’t help the Turkish democracy to recover.”

The Altan brothers and Nazli Ilicak were detained since September 2016 on charges, including “attempting to overthrow the Turkish Grand National Assembly”, “attempting to overthrow the government of Turkey”, “attempting to abolish the Constitutional order” and “committing crimes on behalf of an armed terrorist organisation without being a member.” The three journalists have always denied any implication in the failed coup.

They were also accused of appearing together on a TV show on a pro-Gulen channel just before the coup bid and issuing “subliminal messages” that the attempted overthrow was in the offing.

The conviction defies an order by Turkey’s highest court to release Mehmet Altan in January, after it found that his imprisonment had violated his constitutional rights. The ruling was not implemented by the criminal court, saying it had not been properly communicated.

This case is the first conviction of journalists in trials related to the failed coup and sets a very bad precedent for all the other journalists charged with similar groundless charges.

]]>http://seenpm.org/turkey-three-journalists-sentenced-life-coup-attempt/feed/0Media in Slovenia: among criminals, politicians and “the barbarians”http://seenpm.org/media-slovenia-among-criminals-politicians-barbarians/
http://seenpm.org/media-slovenia-among-criminals-politicians-barbarians/#respondWed, 14 Feb 2018 13:25:28 +0000http://seenpm.org/?p=5828By Blaž Zgaga Once praised as a role model country for the Balkans, Slovenia as the most developed part of former Yugoslavia, an EU and...

Once praised as a role model country for the Balkans, Slovenia as the most developed part of former Yugoslavia, an EU and Nato member today, is facing many challenges in its media landscape. The transition from a former socialist republic to a parliamentary democracy brought some successes and failures where the media ownership structure seems to remain one of the major blunders, as media owners openly or covertly control editorial policies.

During the transition period local oligarchs made a fortune mostly by collaborating with local post-communist politicians in dubious privatisation processes, which was arbitrary and similar to developments in Russia and other transitional countries. An important issue that affects Slovenia’s media landscape nowadays is that almost all mainstream media owners are under criminal investigation for gross crimes by the FBI-like National Bureau of Investigations and Special Prosecutors which deals with corruption, organised crime and terrorism. Some of them were convicted already.

Stojan Petrič, owner of the Kolektor industry and construction group, who in 2015 purchased the previously most influential daily Delo and the tabloid with highest circulation Slovenske novice, is under investigation for abusing his position and the trust in his business activity. The police revealed that a group of perpetrators, including Petrič, gained at least 1,8 million euros of illicit money.

But his actions as the new owner of Delo are troubling too. Immediately after the takeover he appointed Gregor Knafelc, chief of public relations in Petrič’s main holding company FMR, as acting editor-in-chief of Delo. Knafelc, without a single day of journalistic or editorial experience, consequently fired many of Delo’s media workers, mostly renowned and experienced journalists, and thereby significantly changed the editorial policy of following and covering business related topics. Knafelc was replaced on 1 December 2017 with new acting editor-in-chief, therefore the newspaper will remain without an editor with a full mandate for the next period again.

“Loyalty” and “unity”

In an unusual interview given in February 2018 to his own newspaper Delo, Petrič said that he expects “loyalty” and “unity” from Delo journalists. He praised the Chinese political system and said that smaller nations should follow the Chinese model. He also announced new media takeovers in Slovenia.

Delo today is just a pale shadow of the respected and influential newspaper it once was, comparable to The Times or Le Monde in the UK and France. However, Delo’s credibility crisis did already start in 2005, when Janez Janša’s right-wing government came to power and started meddling intensively with the editorial policy, helped by then owner Boško Šrot, who is serving a sentence of five years and ten months for abuse of office authority in a chain sale trading of a 7.3 per cent stake in the holding Istrabenz in 2007, and who had been given an additional sentence of 5 years in 2014 for abusing his position or trust and for money laundering. Šrot is still in prison.

In October 2017 prosecutors filed a request for a court investigation against Stojan Petrič and co-defendants, who denied any wrongdoings.

Slovenia’s second largest newspaper Dnevnik is owned by the DZS financial group since 2003. DZS’s main business is the tourism industry. Its owner Bojan Petan is under criminal investigations in Slovenia and other countries for different crimes. He faces up to eight years in prison for the alleged crime of abuse of position or trust in business activity during the privatisation of the Terme Čatež tourist resort which allegedly resulted in dozens of millions of euros of illicit gains and damages to the company. Additionally, he was investigated for organised crime and money laundering by special prosecutors in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He denied any wrongdoing.

Business operations in offshore countries

Petan was also co-owner of the major advertising, PR and lobbyist agency Pristop, together with his business partner Franci Zavrl, the founder of Pristop and former owner of the left-leaning weekly magazine Mladina, who is the husband of investigative journalist Anuška Delić who worked with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists on the Panama and Paradise Papers. Both Petan and Zavrl have business operations in offshore countries and have been investigated by the police for the alleged misappropriation of dozens of millions of euros. The Slovenian elite criminal police conducted house searches in Petan’s and Zavrl/Delić apartments and many other offices in June 2014. Also this investigation is ongoing, and the accused deny all wrongdoing.

Finally, Bojan Petan is well connected, and his business empire serves as a safe haven for many former intelligence and government officials. Sebastjan Selan, former chief director of the main Slovene intelligence agency Sova became one of the most important managers in his business empire. Some other former spies work for DZS, too. Meanwhile former government spokesperson Darijan Košir became the news deputy editor of Dnevnik and simultaneously runs his own PR company.

A criminal case against Petan is still pending. He denies any wrongdoing. But prosecutors dropped the charges against Zavrl in this case. However, this was not the only close encounter of Zavrl with police investigators. He was investigated by Finnish and Luxembourg police for alleged money-laundering of millions of euros in the Patria arms deals*, which was one of the major scandals in Slovenia during the past decade. Also these criminal charges have been dropped.

Former Prime minister Janez Janša, who was together with Zavrl arrested in 1988 by the Yugoslav People’s Army in a “Roška trial” which triggered the so called “Slovenian spring”, a popular movement which lead to democratic changes and Slovenia’s succession movement in then Yugoslavia, was convicted to two years in prison for bribery in the Patria deal. The conviction of Janša was confirmed by all of Slovenia’s regular courts, including the Supreme Court. However, the Constitutional Court later repealed these judgements and demanded retrial in the Patria bribery, then a statute of limitations had passed.

Illicit gains

The third mainstream daily Večer was purchased from Delo by Uroš Hakl and Sašo Todorovič. They paid just one million euro for this newspaper in 2014, but the deal was mostly financed by debt and they immediately started to sell some real-estate owned by the newspaper to finance the takeover.

Todorovič is the former chief executive officer of T-2 telecommunication provider. Hakl is the former director at the Pristop PR agency and was also investigated for the alleged abuse of office and official duty. Hakl and co-perpetrators allegedly made more than a million euros of illicit gains from state aid, that was given to the most impoverished Slovene region. Hakl is facing up to eight years in prison. The criminal case against the co-owner of Večer is currently under court investigation, and he denies all wrongdoing, too.

Another media mogul is Martin Odlazek, who is also a printing and waste management “baron”, and who was sentenced to six months in prison for abuse of position and trust in business activity in 2013. He served his sentence under house arrest. But his criminal past didn’t prevent him from expanding his media empire and starting the new tabloid Svet24 and many other weekly magazines, including the purchase of the right-leaning weekly Reporter. He also owns several Slovene radio stations.

In Slovenia’s television landscape the public broadcasting service RTV Slovenija continues to serve as a political playground for major political parties who implement their influence on the editorial policy though the programme council where 21 of 29 members are elected by the parliament. A recent example happened in July 2017 when new CEO Director General of RTV Slovenia Igor Kadunc attempted to replace the director of the tv programmeLjerka Bizilj for violating editorial standards as she supported news-editor Jadranka Rebernik who approved the promotional programme of the neo-Ustasha Croatian singer Marko Perković ‘Thompson’ in prime-time. Kadunc’s proposal was then repealed by the programme council with a majority of votes from right-wing council members. This case confirms that politics are still controlling public broadcaster editorial policy through many proxies.

The owner of the majority shares of the smaller private television station Planet TV and 100 per cent shares of the widely read online outlet Siol.net is the state owned major telecommunication company Telekom Slovenije which again offers many channels for political influence behind the scenes.

The small party television station Nova24TV, founded by the right-wing SDS that is led by Janez Janša, on the other hand received significant financial investment from Hungary. Some Hungarian media owners who are close friends of Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban invested at least 800.000 euros in this small TV station and in exchange received significant capital shares in a media outlet that is constantly spreading right-wing political propaganda. Also SDS’ weekly magazine Demokracija is owned by friends of Orban today. Janez Janša, whose party is a member of the European People’s Party, is closely affiliated with Orban and his anti-immigration and anti-liberal politics.

But the seismic shift in the Slovene media landscape happened in July 2017. Pro Plus company was the owner of the tv channels POP TV and Kanal A who are reaching 70 per cent of the viewers in the Slovene market and who receive an even higher share of advertising revenues in Slovenia. The company was bought by United Group, owned by the New York based private equity firm KKR (Kohlberg, Kravis and Roberts) for 230 million euros. Before that, Pro Plus belonged to Central European Media Enterprises (CME) incorporated in the tax haven of Bermuda.

“The Barbarians at the Gate”

Two founders of KKR, Henry Kravis and George Roberts are known as inventors of leveraged buy-outs and their take-over of the RJR Nabisco company in the US was made into a Hollywood movie in 1993: The Barbarians at the Gate. However, these “barbarians” find strong support for lobbying in the Balkans in KKR Global Institute chairman David Petraeus, former director of the CIA and commander of US military forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. He served also in the Nato peace operation in the Balkans.

Petraeus visited Slovene Prime Minister Miro Cerar on 18 May 2017 and lobbied for the purchase of Slovenia’s major television company which also owns the most visited online outlet: 24ur.com. Additionally, KKR bought Croatia’s most watched tv channel Nova TV simultaneously, but Croatian regulators did not approve this part of the deal. Minority shareholder and chairman of United Group, Dragan Šolak met premier Cerar on 19 April 2017, too.

Without a doubt, after Petraeus’ lobby work the Slovene Agency for Protection of Competition Protection Agency (CPA) did probably greenlight the 230 million euros KKR deal despite the fact that such an investment is creating a vertical integration in the media and telecommunication markets as it bears the danger of a monopoly in many other local markets. Moreover, the appointment of CPA’s new director Andrej Matvoz raises many questions about his independence. Despite him lacking any experience in this demanding field of law, he was appointed by the Minister of Economic Development and Technology as acting director. But the Slovene court later declared the decision as illegal. Additionally, the Slovene Commission for the Prevention of Corruption filed charges against Matvoz for cheating in an expert exam to the Slovene police. Nevertheless, all these serious questions didn’t keep the ruling political coalition from confirming Matvoz in the parliament.

Intensive lobbying is also confirmed by a decision of Slovenia’s Ministry of Culture which formally determined that Pro Plus is not a related party of POP TV and Kanal A programmes which are owned by Pro Plus with 100 per cent of the shares. Thus, the Ministry of Culture excluded itself from making any decision about the United Group (KKR) takeover in its role as a regulator of the media industry.

United Group, registered in the Netherlands, also owns the SBB and Telemach telecommunications company, Sportklub, Total TV, Net TV and many other media companies in the region of former Yugoslavia. It reaches 1.74 million households and made 488 million euros of revenues in the last year. It is one of the most important telecommunication and media providers in the Balkans, offering also mobile phone services, and it airs the N1 TV channel, the local partner of CNN in Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia.

The Serbian-Slovenian minority owner of United Group, Dragan Šolak – one of the richest man in the Balkans – regularly operates in offshore countries. According to the Croatian weekly magazine Nacional*, its subsidiary United Media with headquarters in Zürich, Switzerland, managed to funnel 6.7 million euros out of Croatia to secret bank accounts in Liechtenstein and Cyprus for broadcasting licenses without paying any significant tax. Additionally, KKR and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) are hiding their ownership of United Group behind a complex corporate structure with more than a dozen offshore companies in tax havens of Delaware, the Cayman Islands and Luxembourg.

Among such a concentration of media owners with a criminal past and present, with corrupted politicians as well as aggressive Wall Street barons it’s almost impossible to work as a professional independent journalist in Slovenia. Many experienced journalists already left their profession or were forced to leave. On the other hand, a new generation of young journalists seems to be fully adapted to business interests and the goals of new media owners. Professional solidarity among Slovenian journalists lies in the long forgotten past. The professional and personal ethics of journalists who are serving these criminals, politicians and “barbarians” tend to reach new lows again and again.

* The Patria scandal was unearthed in 2008 in collaboration between Finnish journalist Magnus Berglund (YLE) and author of this article.

** The investigative story in Nacional was written by the author of this article.

The author of this article started his journalistic career at the national desk of the newspaper Delo in 1993. In 1998 he joined Večer where he spent the next ten years. In 2007 he initiated the petition against censorship and political pressure on journalists which was signed by 571 Slovene journalists, one quarter of all professional journalists in the country. Because of mobbing and censorship he quit Večer and works as a freelance journalist since 2008. He is a member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and one of the Information Heroes of Reporters Without Borders.His articles are regularly published in the Croatian weekly magazine Nacional.

]]>http://seenpm.org/media-slovenia-among-criminals-politicians-barbarians/feed/0CEU Summer University: Funding Journalism in the Digital Agehttp://seenpm.org/ceu-summer-university-funding-journalism-digital-age/
http://seenpm.org/ceu-summer-university-funding-journalism-digital-age/#respondWed, 14 Feb 2018 12:17:53 +0000http://seenpm.org/?p=5824Organized by the Center for Media, Data and Society (CMDS) at the Central European University (CEU), the Summer University will take place 2-6 July 2018 in Budapest. Application deadline: 11...

This course is intended for media practitioners (media managers, journalists) and donors but the organizers also welcome researchers with a strong demonstrated interest in the financial and organizational aspects of media and journalism.

About the course

The biggest challenge to media freedom and independent journalism today is the systemic political corruption in which private interests shape the decision-making process in state bodies and institutions. Increasingly, a model of captive, politically instrumentalized news media financed by owners, corporations, social and political groups, or governments, is becoming dominant in most parts of the world. This has significant consequences on independent media and journalism.

Probably the most severe crisis journalism has been facing in the past decade is the funding crisis. The old business model in journalism has collapsed. News media outlets are feverishly testing subscription and membership models alongside with new advertising models. They increasingly rely on funding from philanthropies to keep doing public service journalism, which is not commercially viable.

The aim of this course is to provide participants (journalists and media practitioners, and researchers and academics writing about these issues) with in-depth understanding of the main changes in funding journalism, including the key areas of growth and the fastest expanding players in media and journalism as well as the role funding plays in capturing independent media.

Course structure and objectives

The goal of the course is to equip participants with substantive knowledge and strategic skills to address the funding problem in journalism.

The course will consist of two parts.

The first part will be devoted to exploring and analyzing the main changes in funding journalism by reviewing the main trends in journalism funding, the key areas of growth and the fastest expanding funders. It will also analyze the role governments play in funding media and journalism by awarding financing to media in various forms, including allocations for public media, state advertising and other forms of government subsidies.

The second part will be a skill-building block led by a practitioner to train participants in media management, fundraising techniques and business models adapted to the digital age.
In order to maximize the output and opportunities for participants the course will have a maximum of 20 participants.